Finally, the upgrade, which will be highly appreciated by those who rely on using Android Auto in their cars to enhance their smart choices in the driving experience, is on the way. After sticking to the blue and white UI for two years, the Settings menu is getting a radical makeover and completely changing its style.
This last-but-not-least change attempts to bring the settings of Android Auto’s interface up to par with contemporary design. Keeping the same concept as Google’s Material U Design, the new interface features colorful themes that can blend in with your system’s current theme. From this perspective, dark mode functionality has finally been brought to this app, allowing for more comfortable viewing of entertainment at night or in low light conditions.
The primary functions of the website remain unchanged, however, we simplify the UI for easier operation. The pointless graphic at the top-right has been removed and in its place, the “Connect a Car” button looks more obvious. Category names are now more intuitive as each section has its categories such as Startup, Display, Assistant, Maps, and Messaging so that settings can be easily placed where they should be.
The “Customize Launcher” page was also visually improved to comply with the new design language. Conversely, a significant portion of the features are separated into an easy-to-access section found under the overflow menu. Furthermore, “Developer Settings” unfortunately retains the old style, and lacks a dark mode feature.
Unfortunately, it’s still unclear why the release of this feature was delayed, even though screenshots were showing an update from almost a year ago. So, even if Android Auto users have to suffer for a long time, happiness is finally here for them with better visual experience and user-friendliness options.
To access the new Android Auto settings on your Pixel phone, open Settings by going to Settings > Connected devices > Connectivity > Android Auto.
